The present invention relates to underground mining machines, and in particular to a cutter head for an underground mining machine.
A hard rock continuous miner includes a cutter head having an oscillating cutting disc. The oscillating disc cutter transmits all of the dynamic cutting forces through the bearings, and the life of the bearings are limited due to the high loads and high speed of the cutting discs. In addition, the oscillating discs require large face seal surface areas in the primary cutting area, while the cutting discs oscillate at frequencies typically around 50 Hz. It is difficult to seal a large area with a high surface velocity, and this is further complicated due to the fact that the cutting operation generates a large amount of highly abrasive rock particles. The combination of the contaminated environment and high surface velocity accelerates wear on the seals and decreases the working life of the seals. Furthermore, the deficiencies in the seals and the highly loaded bearings can combine to even further increase maintenance and replacement of the disc cutter assembly. These factors also limit the frequency and the eccentricity of oscillation of the cutting discs, thereby limiting the total power available for rock cutting
In addition, oscillating disc cutter systems typically lack a means for directly monitoring the behavior of the disc cutter at the cutting surface. As a result, it is difficult to sense a change in the cutting conditions (e.g., when the hardness of the rock changes). Thus, the operator is unable to control the disc cutter to optimize the cutting performance.